South Side Drive-by Shootings Injure 2

A 12-year-old South Side boy was in serious condition Sunday after he was shot in the head during a gang-related, drive-by shooting that also injured a teenager, police said.

The two youths were standing on the street in the 200 block of East 76th Street at about 9:15 p.m. Saturday when a passenger in a passing blue 1979 Chevrolet sedan fired four shots at the boys, said Pullman Area Violent Crimes Sgt. Thomas Holbert. Each of the boys was hit once.

The 12-year-old was hit in the head and was listed in serious condition Sunday at Wyler Children`s Hospital, a nursing supervisor said. The boy`s companion, 15, was in good condition at South Shore Hospital, where he was being treated for a leg wound, officials said.

Holbert said police had no suspects in the shootings.

Also on the South Side, police have charged a 49-year-old man with murder in connection with the Saturday night stabbing death of Frank Ward, 37, of the 8000 block of South Justine Street-one of several stabbings that left three men dead during the weekend.

John Griffin, of 5152 S. Bishop St., was charged with first-degree murder, police said. He allegedly stabbed Ward once in the chest after Ward refused to give him $5, said Brighton Park Violent Crimes Sgt. Francis Lee. The two men had been smoking cocaine in the living room of Griffin`s house prior to the argument, Lee said.

Griffin was being held without bond pending a hearing Tuesday, police said.

A second stabbing incident, early Sunday on the West Side, left one man dead and his brother wounded, police said.

Santiago Sanchez, 27, of the Near West Side, was stabbed once in the chest at 3:45 a.m. as he left a tavern at 935 N. Damen Ave., said a Harrison Area Violent Crimes detective. Sanchez was pronounced dead at 5:50 a.m. at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital, according to a nursing supervisor.

Also injured during the knife attack was Sanchez`s brother, Pedro, 40, of the West Side. Police said witnesses reported the two men had been involved in an altercation with an unidentified man inside the bar that may have spilled into the street. No suspects were in custody.

Police were also looking for a suspect in the stabbing death of a 67-year-old man whose body was discovered by police Saturday, his hands bound behind his back with a chain and padlock.

Police had entered the apartment of Robert Shorter, 67, of the 7800 block of South Loomis Street, after the man`s relatives became concerned when he did not respond to phone calls, a Pullman Area Violent Crimes detective said. They found Shorter lying on the floor, stabbed once in the back.